Penny's Surgery

Many of us in Indiana were very happy to say “Goodbye July” in hopes of better August weather.  15 straight days above 90 was making it impossible to be outside.  But, for me, August was coming a little too quickly.  I was not ready to wrap up summer just yet.

We started the first week of August by getting Penny fixed.  She has already been in heat once, and I didn’t want to wait too long or I knew Dan and I would start to talk each other into letting her have puppies.  That is the last thing that we needed, even though we are both suckers for babies of all species.  So, I took Penny in August 4^th to FACE in Indy.  We were not about to take her to the horrible vet that did Daisy’s.  Penny was so excited to leave for work with me, but as soon as we got to the door of the clinic, she refused to enter.  So, I had to pick her up and carry her in.  All 50 lbs of her.  I think she knew immediately what was going on and decided to make it as difficult on me as possible.

I got her all checked in and we were waiting to be called back and Penny just kept shaking and hiding under my legs.  She’d never been away from both me and Daisy that long.  I just knew she’d be so scared.  But, they took her back with minimal trouble, and I was able to walk out without hearing her whine too much.  Ugg, it was so hard to leave her, especially knowing I wouldn’t be back for 8 hrs.

You better believe I was there the minute I could pick her up.  She looked so pathetic when they brought her out.  She did really good through the surgery, but she wouldn’t let any of the vet techs near her.  She would hide in the back of her kennel.  She didn’t even perk up when she saw me.  I think that was the first time I didn’t get a kiss or tail wag from her.  I’d be lying if I said I didn’t tear up a bit.  But, she walked to the car and jumped in the backseat on her own.  She slept most of the way home too.

I got her inside and made her a little bed downstairs.  She immediately went to sleep and didn’t move almost all night.  She didn’t even stir when the pizza guy came over.  There was no way I was making dinner with her looking like that.  She didn’t eat anything until the next morning.

The next day was my birthday, and I swear Penny knew it.  Penny woke me up with birthday kisses and tail wags.  Plus, she ate and drank no problem.  By the evening we were doing everything we could to keep her from running around.  She wanted to play so bad. 

After that, she recovered in no time and was back to her playful self.  The only thing she seems to have lost besides her fertility is her habit of chewing on the wood furniture.

Back Home again in Indiana

I was so excited to return home after Vermont.  I missed my bed, by bathroom, my husband, and my pups so bad.  Thankfully I have a husband who knows me so well.  He left work early on Friday, went home, picked up the pups, and drove all the way back to the airport to pick me up.

We got a lot of attention at the airport with the pups in the back of the jeep.  I was sooo happy to see Dan and the pups.  We definitely idled at the pickup area.  :)

I was actually very excited to not have any plans for a good 3 weeks.  I was ready for a schedule.  Unfortunately, I got a stressed induced ulcer in my eye.  Yes, it's as bad as it sounds.  Yes it hurt like hell.  I pretty much locked myself in my bedroom, in the dark for several days.  I was pretty pissed because I was looking forward to work.

Once healed up, I was a new person.  I trained.  Like, 4 or 5 days a week.  Hard core, running at least 2 miles, working the row machine, doing plyo circuits training.  The Warrior Dash was coming up quick and I had work to do.

Before I knew it, August was here.  I wasn't exactly looking forward to August.  Penny was scheduled to be fixed, my birthday was coming up, and that means summer is almost over. :(

 But, with the Warrior Dash planned, I was geared up to see what August had to bring us.

Vermont and Boston

We had such a great time in St. Louis, and I was really happy and sad to come home.  I was glad to sleep in my own bed, but less than a week after coming home, I was off to a work conference in Vermont.

Unfortunately Dan didn't have the vacation days to come out with me, and this was one of my first trips traveling alone since meeting Dan.  I wasn't very excited at all.  A 6 day work conference with 8 hours of speakers, a dorm room with no A/C and cafeteria food.  To say I was hesitant to go would be a HUGE understatement.

Vermont Academy Campus

Plus a whole week without Dan, the pups, and Buggs!

But, I packed up my bag with extra cute clothes, shoes, and as many luxuries (soft towels, ipod, kindle, ect) as I could think of, and headed out to fly to DC and onto Boston.

I was excited to see Boston.  As a sports fan, beach girl, and lover of architecture, I was pumped to visit. 

Administrators Office - AKA the Gingerbread House

After meeting up with my traveling companion, P, we headed out on the 2 1/2 hr car ride from Boston into Vermont.  It was a very pretty drive and P got to tell me about life living in Finland, Boston, and Cali.

My tiny dorm room

The dorm was a little better than I expected.  I didn't have a roommate.  The bathroom was horrible and the shower was just big enough for me to fit into.  At least there was warm water.  Unfortunately, there was very little cell phone coverage.  It did bring back memories from college, which was fun.

Good ol' college days pre-responsibilities

The conference it self was great.  It reminded me of what academia life is like.  I had been toying with the idea of getting my P.h.D. and I remembered why I didn't want to.  I met a lot of interesting people all the way from Greece, Germany, England, and from all over the US.

My dorm building

So, besides my boredom, it was a good time.

The Garden where my Celtics play!

We left early on Friday so we could spend a couple of hours in Boston before flying home.  I was in heaven!  I had the best hot lobster roll, got to see the Garden, and even walked through a Farmers Market.  I even found a small bakery and had a fantastic cupcake while waiting for my plane.

Drool...

We will definitely be vising Boston again and I have put it on my list of places I'd like to live.

DT Boston

Month 2

Now that you are all caught up on June...

• Summer Time Fun
• Bonnaroo 2011
• Bandaids and Birthdays
• 1 Year Cancerservary

Let's start on July!  And I can think of no better way to start than by celebrating our 2nd Anniversary.

I can't believe it's been 2 years.  It truly went by fast.  We've been through a lot in 2 years, and I'd do it all over again in a heartbeat.

I love this man

We decided to go on our trip to Saint Louis over the long 4th of July weekend.  We had a lot of fun.  St. Louis has a 3 day festival under the arch with airshows, concerts, and fireworks.  All free.  The first day we checked in, which took way too long.  The hotel was horrible.  I won't go into it, but I highly recommend NOT staying at the Millennium Hotel.  We then wondered down to the festival and checked out the Steve Miller Band concert.  I must say, there are highly underrated.

We missed out on fireworks because Dan was only 2 weeks out of knee surgery.  So, we ended up spending a lot of time in the hotel room resting Dan's knee.  I could think of worse ways to spend our anniversary though. :)

Sunday we headed out on St. Louis's wonderful public transportation and headed to the zoo.  We had so much fun.  We walked around for hours.  Then we headed to the Science Center and Planetarium.  Nothing like a couple of science geeks playing with all the kids toys.  The best part, it was all free (besides that bus/train rides).  Yup.  We will be going back.

Monday we checked out, but then headed down to the Budweiser Brewery for a free tour.  Again, we had a great time.  We got to see the Clydesdales, and everything from the brewery to the packaging plant.  At the end, they have a taste bar.

Tour Bus

Beautiful!  The horses and pup.

We wanted to stay for the beer school, but we needed to head home to get the dogs and so Dan could meet his new nephew.

You don't think I'd forget about our new family member do you?!?  Meet baby H!  He looks just like my brother and is just as sweet as can be.  I forget how small newborns are.

1 Year Cancerversary!

I wish I could explain how excited I was to celebrate Dan's 1st Cancerversary.  

We had so many people come to help us celebrate.

I think Dan and I were both touched by how many people came over to spend their Saturday with us. 

 We had sooo much food, family and friends. 

Plus it was the first real use of our half grass backyard. 

I can't wait for next year. 

Bandaids and Birthdays

We didn't have long after returning home from Bonnaroo to adjust to life with responsibilites before we were onto our next adventure.

Dan tore his medial meniscus (the Parrot's Beak pictured above) and we quickly scheduled his surgery for June 17th, so he would have time to recover before the Warrior Dash.  Unfortunately that was Father's Day weekend and we had planned on Dan's 1 Year Cancerversary, so we had to shuffle some things around.  Next years goal is no surgeries.

Who says men with shaved legs aren't sexy?

The surgery didn't take too long at all.  I was impressed.  Dan was in recovery and ready to head home in just under an hour.  The bad news was he was on bedrest for 3 days and could only get up to use the bathroom.  I moved our mattress downstairs and the dogs thought we were having a party.  But, by Monday Dan was at PT and was up walking and very slowly doing the stairs.  I don't know who was happier that he could shower, me or him.

Fortunately, Dan recovered just in time to help celebrate Penny's 1st birthday!  I made her a beef flavored cake and she and Daisy both got left over Texas Roadhouse to celebrate.  Daisy even sang to Penny.  Her favorite song is "Happy Birthday" because that means she's getting some good food to eat.

Penny wants to know if it can be her day every day

My helpers taste testing the PB frosting

So I may have been more excited about it than Penny was, but Daisy sure knew what was going on.

 

I did learn that it's much harder to take a mattress up the stairs than it is to guide it on a gentle fall down the stairs.  We got some funny looks from the pizza guy when Dan was sitting on a bed in the living room half dressed.  We might not have thought that through.

Bonnaroo 2011

After returning home from Cali, we had less than 2 weeks to prepare for our return to Bonnaroo in Manchester, TN.

What Stage

We were able to quickly pull together borrowed camping gear, car, canapy, and dog sitters before we headed out.

Fellow Roo'er Ride

We survived better this year and were able to enjoy the bands a little more.  Amazingly, we ran into our old Bonnaroo friends the first night among the 100,000 other people there.  It was great to hang out, catch up, make new friends, and of course, play many games of beer pong and flippy cup.

Sucessful Trip into Centerroo as a group thanks to this flag which was later stolen

We were happy to head back home, exhausted, and ready for a shower and a comfy bed.  Our favorite shows this year were The Black Keys, The Black Angels, The Decemberists, My Morning Jacket, and Warren Hanes.  We were disappointed in Lil' Wayne and Eminem's show, Buffalo Springfield (due to sound issues) and Arcade Fire really just sucked.

Our camp site including our new tapestries

We are looking forward to next year's and hopefully the line up is a little better.

This year's eye candy :)

Summer Time Fun

Since I've been MIA all summer, I thought I'd do a coupe recap posts of our summer.  We have been extremely busy.

Our summer began with some sad news.  My grandpa passed away after struggling with many health problems following his surviving mouth and throat cancer.  We were planning on heading down to St. Louis, and quickly cancelled and scheduled a quick trip to California.  In true Grandpa fashion, we spent most of our time out vising with family and friends.  He would hate it if we traveled all the way out there and didn't have some fun.

With a very inexpensive upgrade, we were able to rent a Mustang.  Dan was really excited, especially since we flew into San Diego, and had a 2 1/2 hour drive into Victorville.  After a minor set back of delayed luggage, we were all checked in and settled into the hotel.  Unfortunately, we missed the services, but were able to make the BBQ Celebration of Life afterwards.

The next day, Dan found an good hiking trail into a 6000+ year old crater, Amboy Crater, that happened to be right off route 66.  It was a really great hike and we were able to make our mark in the volcanic rock.  It was also really interesting to see the old Route 66 towns, or what's left of them I should say.

 We were also able to meet up with some of Dan's family close to San Diego.  It was great to meet even more of Dan's family and nice to know we both have so many ties to Cali.  After lunch, we headed up the Pacific Coast highway into LA to meet with with Dan's college roommate.  We headed to Santa Monica Pier, ate wonderful sushi, and got a little more than our feet wet. 

 Even though the trip was short, we really squeezed a lot in and left itching to plan our next trip back.  Now we have a lot of family to visit and many many more sites to see.